Kukushkin, the only player with a winning record against Sinner, withdraws

There is one tennis player who can boast of ending his career with a winning record in head-to-head matches against Jannik Sinner. It’s not Novak Djokovic, nor Carlos Alcaraz, but Mikhail Kukushkin, a 38-year-old Kazakhstani by adoption, who bid farewell to professional tennis in Almaty, losing his final match to Stefanos Tsitsipas. His small personal record, however, will remain intact: he leads the South Tyrolean 1-0.

To find their only previous meeting, we have to go back to September 16, 2019, when the two faced off in the first round of the ATP 250 in St. Petersburg. Sinner had just turned 18 and had entered the draw thanks to a wild card. He faced a decidedly more experienced opponent, who prevailed 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 39 minutes on indoor hard court.

Yet even in that match, the young Jannik had already shown his potential, earning three break points in the first game and another four in the seventh. The Italian also had a chance to force a third set, but Kukushkin managed to capitalize on his experience and clinch the victory. It was hard to imagine, at the time, that that win would become a curious statistic to remember upon his retirement.

In an interview after ending his career, Kukushkin fondly recalled that match, acknowledging that he had immediately sensed something special in the future world No. 1: “I remember that match. Sinner was very young, but he was already playing exceptionally well. You could tell he had something special. I was particularly struck by his attitude: he was very aggressive, focused, and self-assured,” said the Kazakh player.

According to Kukushkin, it was precisely this confidence in his own abilities that was one of the decisive factors in the Italian’s development. “I believe that this very confidence in his tennis was fundamental to his growth. From a very young age, he believed strongly in his own game and continued to trust his strengths.” His path to the top of world tennis wasn’t easy to predict, but some signs were already evident: “It wasn’t easy to imagine that he would become the world No. 1 and win so many Grand Slams, but even back then he had qualities that set him apart from the others. He hit the ball with impressive aggression and produced a lot of winners.”

Then came the quip about their head-to-head record, which is destined to remain a small personal satisfaction: “I’m glad I’m still leading 1-0 in our head-to-head record! It’s a nice statistic for me. Of course, I know he was very young back then, and that’s also why I was able to beat him.”